Hey first post to the forum and I'm thinking about putting an lad in my 02 s10 crew can I know I can grab one out of a g80 code car but my question is when pulling one out of a g80 do I just need the diff or do I also have to pull the pinion shaft? Or if some ones done the same thing and can tell me exactly what to do that would be great too

Would be easiest to get the entire rear end and swap it in as long as it has disks and is from a 4x4 otherwise I would get the pinion to go with the carrier and ring so your not mix and match the gears might not have the same wear pattern if you mix match plus you will have to shim it and set the lash on the gears.. Hopefully someone will chime in with more knowledge than I have and welcome to the forum

I would just try and find a g80 disk brake rear end with the same gear ratio as you. Or you will have to set back lash and buy a shim kit. I don't think you'll have a problem useing a diferent pinion as long as it's the same gear ratio. The wear pattern should be very simalar from the factory. But you be better of finding a complete axle. Or a zr2 axle (the zr2s came with the bigger axle and all came with g80s I believe they also came disk brake)

If you do pull the carrier and pinion. I dont think it will be worth it I've herd many people have problems with the g80s going out or even grenadine(my g80 quit working at 140,000 and I've yet to find a good one at a junk hard) By the time you pull the carrier and pinion and set preload, back lash, and buy shim kits. Just for it to go out. You may want to consider buying an after market locker. And then you won't need to change your backlash or anything. Expeshaly if you choose a "lunch box locker" you won't even have to changer the carrier. There was a Detroit locker on zr2usa not to long ago. But I believe you'll have to set preload if you go with a Detroit. Hope that helps.

Swapping to the bigger ZR2 rear is a huge upgrade. Well worth the investment. The stock rear is small and flexy. I have pinion shim problems. When I tore it down the choice to upgrade was easy. Don't waste money upgrading the stock rear. Go bigger and better.

"Speed doesn't kill, suddenly becoming stationary does." - Richard Hammond"Speed is just a matter of Money - How fast do YOU want to go?"-Mechanic from Mad Max-If at first you don't succeed - Don't take up Skydiving! - ThunderIIKE7CSK

Good luck finding a zr2 rear, like hens teeth anymore. The ZR-2 rear was 3.72 gears so your front must match the same. I got lucky my truck had a G80 in it with that gear ratio so the swap was straight forward. I gave the old axle away as trying to sell an axle with 270k on it would be a hard sell.

ApproachMedium wrote:Good luck finding a zr2 rear, like hens teeth anymore. The ZR-2 rear was 3.72 gears so your front must match the same. I got lucky my truck had a G80 in it with that gear ratio so the swap was straight forward. I gave the old axle away as trying to sell an axle with 270k on it would be a hard sell.

Open your glove box and look for the rpo codes G80= posi Gu4= 3.08Gu5= 3.23Gu6= 3.42Gt4= 3.73Gt5= 4.10My bet is you have 3.73 and g80 , 2nd would be 3.42 openAnd what's you reason for wanting to add a posi ? If it were me I would consider a lunch box locker if you are open rear , but Iam a off road guy , have yet to have any negative experience with a locker in the rear my self on the street

Oh and as for needing the pinion if you pull a used g80 , I would just grab the carrier / posi unit and swap your ring gear, your pinion depth is already set so all you need it worry about is back lash so measure what your rear end is now , then measure with the new / used posi installed it you have the same reading your done , if not your going to need to re shim the carrier / new bearings to get it to the same backlash

michaelhrgn wrote:Open your glove box and look for the rpo codes G80= posi Gu4= 3.08Gu5= 3.23Gu6= 3.42Gt4= 3.73Gt5= 4.10My bet is you have 3.73 and g80 , 2nd would be 3.42 openAnd what's you reason for wanting to add a posi ? If it were me I would consider a lunch box locker if you are open rear , but Iam a off road guy , have yet to have any negative experience with a locker in the rear my self on the street

I have the gu6 code and mainly better traction in the show and 2 wheel burn outs when it's time for new tires haha